SharonDee

If it makes you feel any better, the show had some Christian organizations speaking against Hinn's practices.
None of the Christians in my "sphere of influence" believe in or contribute to Hinn's ministry/tactics. But where, then, are those thousands of believers packing his auditoriums coming from? Weird...

Sabine Grant

Hello Butswana.... that is the reply I have always recieved any time I have questionned the actions of a so called "anointed man of God" to another christian. Whether he was a pastor or a famous evangelist... same reply. In other words, if anyone claims that he is doing the work of God, then he is immune to being questionned and even rebuked.
I think that agnostics who aknowledge not the divinity of Christ but the validity of his message as a human being can help counteract the falsity of the actions of Benny Hinn and others. It takes good knowledge of the character of Christ thru the 4 Gospels to establish a comparaison and basicaly confront the phonies with christlikeness.
Even if presented without the divine aspect, Christ as the human being himself remains a challenge to those phonies.

Dr Rick

So how is Mr. Hinn different from the Pope?

Rick

Pensee

I was so excited to see Benny Hinn exposed. My family is among his faithful followers. I've been to his crusades. But, really, they didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.

What was the most fun was making fun of him with my Christian husband! That was a blast!

I've taped it, so who knows I just might "accidentally" leave it in my dad's VCR one day. oops!

LeftCoast

Saddly, the gullible will always be with us - Peter Popov is still on the air even after being exposed as a fraud(with audio tapes even) by a The Amazing Randi about 10 years ago.

scigirl

Heh I just started a thread here about this nut.

I was so struck by his...arrogance. He waits until the audience sings this one particular song, I think it's How Great Thou Art, then he comes out on stage. As if he was God.

In my opinion, the man should be prosecuted for wrongful death, for every one of those 'healed' patients that refuses medical treatment and dies. He's a liar, a fraud, and an evil man, but because he claims to be doing "The Lord's Work," we can't touch him. Makes me sick. If an atheist was selling snake oil like that, he'd prob be on death row by now.

scigirl

Sabine Grant

Hello Rick... should we give the old devil more opportunities to ice skate? maybe a glacier this time.

ok.. the Pope....I am not a catholic so I do not fall under the belief that the man is the sole representative of the Holy Spirit which then grants him the right to exercise supreme authority over the body of catholic believers. He too uses the " I am anointed by God thru the Holy Spirit to do God's job". He also ends up with quite a few priviledges and self glorifying titles which disturb me the most.
As I explained before I would draw the comparaison with the character of Christ as well as his lifestyle.

Here is where I discern a difference between benny Hinn and the Pope.... I believe Benny Hinn is fully aware of his deception to flatter his ego and fill his bank account. He lies arrogantly even when confronted by reality facts ( such as the misdiagnosis). He stages his healing sessions and I am convinced some of those folks are hired and paid to act it out. He has no genuine faith. He knows what he is doing.

The Pope I think believes what he communicates to be true. In that sense he may be decieved but that does not mean he intentionaly decieves. Can you see the difference? I consider this old man to be still "candide" in his faith even though he contradicts by his lifestyle and titles the very essence of the teachings of Christ. I have often wondered why he had to protect his life in this bubble when he should be prepared to give up his life for Christ ( according to what christian faith teaches). The fear of death does not quite fit the epiphany to be experienced as a believer dies to be reunited with Christ. Of course that feeling can remain theorical as one faces the reality of dying.( which he came close to).

To me he is no different than a particular denomination's members who firmly believe that Christ turned water into grape juice and Old testament references to drinking wine really meant " raisin cakes".

But Benny Hinn, Rick, KNOWS that he is lying and decieving those crowds of hungry for miracles folks.
There is a large local church in Tampa where the pastor exercises the same intentional money productive scheme ( he is a good buddy of Benny). Over 5000 people attend his services, churning up mega bucks into his 2 million dollar home and his Rolex watch! And the more he tells them to give, the more they give....and they all believe that God instructs them thru him to give to... him.. of course. Those folks are completely blinded and deaf to the reality of Christ's message( where material modesty prevails). To one member , my hubby inquired as to the lack of material modesty and how it contradicts Christ.... reply : " oh you have no idea how much money a carpenter makes!".

Ignorance seems to feed that exploitation of men by men. The Jesus of that church is now a wealthy entrepeneur who fed himself and 12 other folks on his carpentry jobs here and there. He is not homeless anylonger.

I could approach any of them with the 4 gospels which they are supposed to uphold as the biography of Christ as self proclaimed christians..... I would face the horrendous discovery that their Christ was refashioned to justify their pastor's greed. History repeats itself.... God was refashioned over and over again to justify slavery, racism, all sorts of oppressive systems, murder, etc.....now it is Christ's turn.

Let me take you to a little fictive drama ( fictive to you as an atheist but real to me as a theist). Judgement Day has come. God is facing both men, Benny and Karol. I can picture Benny still justifying his lies even after God confronts him. He would even say " you are not God". I picture the old man Pope weeping over his mistakes, overwhelmed by the reality of his misled faith. I also picture my God applying Grace over him. Of course I picture all of that only thru my limited human understanding.

There is one key statement among all the statements of Christ which directs my evaluation of who intentionaly decieves and who is mistaken and the degree of accountability it implies for each situation
" Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing".

Despite of all the downfalls of the RCC, I must tell you that in both Italy and France the wealth of the RCC is recycled to support the poor thru local parishes. In Naples, most orphanages are catholic institutions, the collection of clothing for the Macedonian refugees and Albanese which poured into Italy was initiated and organized by the Secorso Catholico ( unfortunatly in 2000, the local camora had highjacked trucks to sell those clothes on local flea markets) and I never found a catholic church locked up at night so the homeless can sleep inside.
There are the obscene wealth and priviledges of Vatican leaders.... yes. But there are also the " little people" who truly believe they are serving God.

Sabine Grant

Hello Pensee ! go for it.... not just the tape in the VCR but encourage your hubby to approach your parents about the contrast between Christ's character and Benny's. I really believe that is the way to plant seeds of doubts about Benny in their mind.

Toto

I was impressed with that woman who claimed she gave him money, and then started finding money she had stashed away under her mattress (obviously a gift from the lawd). What an idiot, I thought. How can someone this daft survive?

But then it turned out that she is also a minister. She's learning those tricks at the feet of a master, and that's how she earns her living. So who's the idiot?

:banghead:

Anyone with an unproven medical treatment cannot go on TV and tout it. They can't even practice on willing volunteers without special dispensation from the FDA.

No one can legally tout a pyramid scheme or other "investment" scheme without full financial disclosure, but Benny and (Pat Robertson) can go on TV and tell the gullible that everything they donate to god's work will be returned 8 fold.

But Benny Hinn can pull off this meretricious fraud in the name of religion.

The best thing about the program was learning about the EFCA

Sabine Grant

Hey Toto .... thanks for the link. Has anyone else checked the "Ways of Giving" link from the homepage? I mean they have it all covered... Life Insurance donation, retirement.... I love the CC part where we are warned about the 3% witheld for the processing..... using a Credit itself totaly contradicts the idea of christians owning rather than borrowing.
Talk about promoting debts in the life of a believer and defying sound financial christian counseling.
This is outragious!